Diet and Nutrition. Natural Health, and Healthy Living

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Men more likely to have problems with memory and thinking skills

CHICAGO – When it comes to remembering things, new research shows men are more likely than women to have mild cognitive impairment, the transition stage before dementia. The research will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12–19, 2008.

“This is one of the first studies to determine the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment among men and women who have been randomly selected from a community to participate in the study,” said study author Rosebud Roberts, MD, with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and member of the American Academy of Neurology. Mild cognitive impairment can also be described as impairment in memory or other thinking skills beyond what’s expected for a person’s age and education.

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The Washington Post reports that restaurants are removing tomato slices from sandwiches and grocery stores are purging their produce aisles after a national alert that certain types of raw tomatoes may be responsible for the growing number of people infected with a rare form of salmonella.

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Regular THCB contributor Michael Millenson published an op-ed piece in Sunday's Washington Post, in which he says that until health insurance truly becomes an issue of the white middle-class, politically, nothing will happen.

Michael's words:

"Here's a cold truth: Despite much media hand-wringing on the subject, most of us give about as much thought to those who lack health coverage as we do to soybean subsidies.The major obstacle to change? Those of us with insurance simply don't care very much about those without it. It's only when health care costs spike sharply, the economy totters or private employers begin to cut back on benefits that the lack of universal health care comes into focus. Noticing the steadily growing ranks of the uninsured, the broad American public -- 'us' -- begins to worry that we'll soon be joining the ranks of 'them.'"

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Lonely PatientBy nature, human beings seek comfort and stability. Both sickness and travel take away your daily schedule and leave you in places out of your comfort zones, such as hospital beds and toilets in air-planes. As such, I dedicate this post to the lonely patient, also known as a medical tourist. Let's just say (more...)

An essay in the NY times explains how terrible life is for doctors. Reimbursement is down, more time is spent arguing with managed care companies, there are more restrictions on the what they can prescribe, etc, etc.

Now I understand that primary care is in crisis, but overall physicians’ salaries in the last couple of years have gone up, and the first doc in the article is a cardiologist. Cardiologists, as this salary survey suggests, tend to make more than double what a primary care doc gets. And of course, fewer docs are primary care only now, and more are specialists (who make more money!). But whether or not physicians are getting paid less than they were, their perception surely is that that’s the case.

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Here at the Center for Information Therapy's Ix Conference, transparency is the name of the game. Transparency in information transfer, information therapy, also literal transparency - we're surrounded by tons of glass and steel here, late-morning light is streaming in, and attendees zone out to a sweet view of the Washington Monument.

James Hereford, executive VP of Strategic Services and Quality for Group Health Cooperative (Seattle), has the smooth charm that tells you he has a sales background. He's taking us on a tour of Group Health's portal - My Group Health.

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